After several practices that concentrated on defense, Mills took an early lead on the road at Little Rock McClellan and came away with a 77-41 victory Tuesday night.
The Comets (17-3, 9-1 4A-5) scored the first eight points and held the Crimson Lions (5-13, 4-4) without a point for almost two minutes.
"Defense has been a real focus for us the last couple of weeks," Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said. "And for us, the better we play defense, the better our offense is. Tonight we were pressuring more, causing mistakes and taking advantage of them.
"I think we are still improving because the conference is not settled, and there is a lot more to go before the season is over."
McClellan trimmed the lead to 15-12 before the Comets took off again as Mills ended the first quarter with a 24-14 advantage.
Mills was still hot from the field in the second quarter, and with 6:03 left had a 34-19 lead. With 3:35 left in the first half, McClellan trailed 40-24, but an 8-0 run by the Comets left them with a 48-24 lead before a final field goal from McClellan's Kendrick Ester trimmed it to 48-26 at the half.
The Comets' pressure defense kept the Lions to only 14 points in the third quarter, while Mills put up 25 points.
With 2:31 left in the third quarter, the Comets had increased their lead to 65-34. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter, and Mills had a 73-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.
"I haven't thought about the rest of the schedule because of McClellan," Cooper said. "Coach [Christopher] Threatt does a good job throwing different things at us. We just want to make sure we take care of business."
Freshman QJ King and junior Joseph Bell each had 17 points for the Comets, while junior Jakari Livingston added 16.
For McClellan, Padrick Martin had 13 and Traevon Darrough added 12.
4A-5 GIRLS
LR McCLELLAN 79, MILLS 31
The Lady Lions (6-12, 5-3 4A-5) needed only 13 seconds before scoring and didn't allow Mills (2-16, 1-9) to score until the 4:38 mark in the first quarter to cruise to a victory.
By halftime, McClellan led 55-17.
Taya Bridgewater had a game-high 19 points for McClellan while Tyianna Robinson added 18. Takyra Miles scored 15 and Jykiara Brown chipped in with 13.
For Mills, Judith Woods had 14 and Gabbie Marler added 10.
Sports on 01/29/2020